Aeolus Reaches TOP SPEED

May 7th. After we wrapped up the Ce Matin broadcast, we started our usual training from 9 am. It looks like we have strong winds of up to 10 m today. Most of the maintenance work on the Aeolus has been completed so our 'motto' or 'catchphrase' has been "Don't break it!" We are down to a month until we head out for San Diego so if the Aeolus gets seriously damaged, the project will be at risk. We had 3 people from Flash on board for interviews today. Since we had pretty heavy winds, we determined that an interview on board may be difficult so we decided to have the interview on land before we set sail. In about an hour, the wind seemed to calm down a bit so we headed out but the heavy winds were back once we were out there. Shinbo-san and I confirmed whether we both agreed on the 2nd reef and raised the sail. It went well. Then we raised the inner jib. The wind is strong so the the sail is tied down to the deck with 4 pieces of rope. We release the ropes and get back to the mast before the sail falls into the water and pull the halyard (the rope that raises the sail) quickly at which time I tell Shibo-san who is in the cockpit to quickly pull the rope that pulls the sail in. There's a lot of rope we need to tidy up an place under the mast because if we leave them out on the deck, we can trip over them. Then we return to the cockpit and we start preparing the rope for the headsail. The headsail has a furling (rolling the sail in or out) system so it's relatively easy to let the sail out. The Aeolus starts racing on 3 sails. When we are hit with a gust of wind, the Aeolus which is not easily affected by wind tilted a little. I worried about the 3 guests onboard who are holding on the railings in the stern. I worried if they were scared the Aeolus might tip over or that they might be getting seasick. In a matter of moments, the Aeolus was moving at the speed of over 7 knots (approximately 13 km). Hiki-san exclaimed "This is the first time it's gone so fast!" and ran to get the camera. Unfortunately, the wind speed dropped and we missed an opportune moment to take a picture. At high speeds, we can't just sit around to relish it. We have to pay attention to make sure it isn't putting a strain on the Aeolus and need to determine whether to widen the sail to reduce speed. We are not racing for top speed so the key is to not try too hard and be gentle to the Aeolus. As soon as we changed directions to return to the harbor, the wind started to pick up speed again. Today we got some steady strong winds so it was a great practice run. Being able to communicate well with Shinbo-san under these conditions and be able to turn the 3 sails to the portside and starboardside without a hitch helped to build my confidence. Once we returned to the harbor we had some spaghetti and had an interview with a magazine called 'Boat Fishing'. The interview centered around the equipment we are using to sail. Depending on the magazine and the interviewer, what we talk about is always different. I am very grateful I had a very productive day.

Originally posted by Hiro in Japanese on 5/9/2013
Translated by SWIS Project